Holding on to Tomorrow
by LilaSkyBlue2016
Summary: NO SPOILERS! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! DON'T KNOCK IT UNTIL YOU TRY IT! Rating could turn to M later...
1. Chapter 1

God damn I missed writing... I missed the feeling of satisfaction when someone favorites my story. I missed the freedom of being able to write about anything I wanted. But, this will be my last story for HH for the for seeable future. Sorry! I will not be updating unless I get some super motivation. AS ALWAYS... Review please!

No Spoilers about the meaning of this story...

I got off the plane and walked to the limo, not bothering to wait for Kelly. She would catch up, eventually. She knew I was pissed off. Hell, she knew not to mess with me at a time like this. Kelly knew that I didn't want to head home, especially not now. Not when I was finally happy and moving on beyond the last 3 years of my life.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I don't miss the simplicity of my life before the contest, but I love my life. I love looking out into a crowd and watching them sing along to the songs that I wrote, the songs that mean so much to me. Coincidentally, the contest also brought me to my first real love. Eddie was amazing. Key word "was".

The first year or so was perfect. He would pick me up from work and we would go out to dinner and hang out and just be there. Together. But soon things started to get in the way. All of the expectations from our label weighted heavily on our minds, and the time we spent writing and recording took away from our time together. So I really shouldn't have been so surprised when I found out about Lia.

I had always had an extreme dislike for Lia, from the moment I met her after we all returned from that festival in NY. She put on the polite face, but I saw through it. Eddie, however, did not. In his mind, Lia could do no wrong. To him, she was the woman who saved his life, and in that aspect, he felt eternally grateful. I guess that's why he decided to screw her.

We always had this thing between us, the trust we both needed, it was always there. I never felt as if he could be cheating, or if he was hiding anything. He must have gotten that from Chloe. I probably wouldn't have ever found out, if Ian hadn't fessed up. He had begun to date Melissa, and we were pretty close friends, so I guess he couldn't see me be played for a fool like Eddie was with Chloe.

I didn't believe it at first. How could this man I loved, this man I gave everything to, lie to me about something so huge? I denied it and denied it. But eventually, I saw it for my own eyes. Beyond the fact that I could see when they smiled at each other, or those quick touches when they thought I wasn't looking, I could just tell. I could tell that something was different between Eddie and I.

Before the whole scandal, Eddie and I were making love multiple times daily. Soon, however, it seemed as if he could barely stand to be in the same room as me, let alone be intimate. I blamed myself for his lies and cheating. One night however, I was coming home from recording at the studio, and she was there. She came running down the stairs in one of Eddie's shirts, giggling, and he came running after her, a huge grin on his face, wearing nothing but his boxers. I watched as he ran up behind her and kissed her neck, the same way he kissed me; I broke inside. When they saw me, I did nothing. I didn't yell, I didn't scream. I just stood there. I picked up my purse, not wanting to see his disgustingly beautiful face for another second, because I knew that if he asked me to stay, which he would, that I wouldn't have resisted. So I simply raised my hand, shook my head, and walked out. I sent for my clothes, and that was the last time I saw Eddie Duran.

I shook myself out of the memory and relaxed into Lincoln's arms. It was hard, moving on from the deception. It took me a while, but Linc was so sweet. He waited months before I was even ready to go on a date with him, and while he wasn't my first love, and it wasn't the same, somehow it was better. It was different between Linc and I. There were fights, a lot of them, but I never thought he would even think of straying. We got in each other's faces, we pushed each other to do our bests, but there was always this sensuality with us.

I met him at a bar in New York. He was a guitar player, a singer too. Pretty good at it.

"You ready for this Loren?" Linc's deep voice shook me from my thoughts and I gazed up at his warm light brown eyes. They were so much different than Eddie's, lighter, more expressing, less deceiving.

I chuckled. "No?"

He pulled me farther into his embrace. "Well, you knew this would happen eventually. He will be there, and I can't wait to put my fist in his face."

"It's my mother's wedding, not the damn fight house."

"So?" Linc grinned and I found myself easily returning it.

"It'll all be okay, you know that right?" Lincoln's eyes speared into me, like they could see through my soul. That's how it'd always been, him being able to see me and me being able to see him. That was one of the reasons we argued so much; we knew each other just a little bit too well.

"Yeah, I know that."


	2. Chapter 2

**AS ALWAYS, PLEASE BLESS ME AND LEAVE A REVIEW! :)) **

"Loren?" Kelly's voice ushered me out of my thoughts. Linc's arms tightened around me, and I held back the urge to run away. I knew where we were, the car was parked in front of my mother's new house. Max and my mother's new house. I guess they decided that our simple home in the valley wasn't good enough.

"Yeah, I know, I know." I sat up straighter and paused for a second before I opened the car door. I took my time getting out, focusing less on where I was and who I was bound to see, and more on Linc's strong hand on my waist. I stepped on to the sidewalk, and glanced around their new domicile. It was modest, a sleek modern place with a white exterior and large windows. My breath caught in my throat when I saw my mother and Max laughing in one of them. I could not see who they were talking to, but I knew the back well. 2 years gone, and I still remember him like it was yesterday. I paused on the sidewalk and Linc lightly brushed past me.

"You okay?" He asked, his light brown eyes searched my own. His hand still rested on my waist, stroking the bare skin where my shirt had ridden up idly.

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" I questioned.

Lincoln chuckled. "No." He wrapped me into the crook of his arm, kissing the side of my temple as we marched on to the front door, Kelly walking silently behind us. Which was unusual in itself, she must have known not to say anything to me, not now. When we got to the front door, it swung open revealing a jovial Melissa, her eyes beaming at me, and somehow, I found it within me to smile back at my old best friend.

"Lookie here, Loren Tate, finally back for business," she joked lightly, pulling me from Lincoln's arms and into her own. I hugged her tightly, and remembered just how much I missed her.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I missed you too Mel." She pulled back to look at me once, but noticed Linc standing behind me with Kelly. Her eyes widened, and her head tilted a fraction toward the laughter spilling out of the house. She regained her composure and smiled largely.

"You must be Lincoln right?" Mel asked, moving forward to shake my boyfriend's hand.

"Yes, and you're Melissa; Loren talks about you a lot." Linc took Mel's hand.

"Well, I'm glad to know she still thinks of me." I smiled.

"Like I could forget!" We all laughed. Kelly pushed past our little party and went in to talk to Jake, I assumed.

I felt arms wrap around my stomach and lift me up from behind, I squealed, swatting at the arms that constrained me.

"Come on Tate, let's have a little fun like we used to!" Ian's accented voice came to my ears and I laughed loudly. He let me down and I turned around to throw my arms around his thin neck. He hugged me tightly. I remembered how close we were before the whole scandal erupted.

"I don't think you could handle me, Ian."

* * *

When all of the introductions between Linc, Ian, and Mel were finished, and I found out that Ian and Mel were still together from 2 years ago, we headed inside, and I felt my heart rate speed up. My palms began to sweat, and I felt Linc thread his fingers through mine and squeeze lightly. I squeezed back. I felt reassured that he was there for me, that he knew what I was going through. I guess that's what happens when you are with someone for over a year and a half.

It had taken me a while to get over the sting of Eddie's betrayal. When I arrived in NY, I dove head first into my music, switching from the pop music to my roots, a more acoustic feel than what I was used to. It took a while, but Kelly finally saw how this was better for my career, better for me. In that change, I needed a new band. Less techno, more soul. Kelly and I spent weeks looking for new backups, but to no avail. We had stopped for lunch in a bar in Brooklyn, when we saw a quartet. With a banging drummer named Chris, a soulful singer named Sabine, a useful bassist Andy, and the talented guitarist and backup singer Lincoln. It took only 5 minutes before we came to a deal, a new band was formed.

From the start I was interested in Linc. He was the most attractive man I had ever seen before. With his shaggy brown hair, high cheekbones, and full lips, he had me staring at rehearsal from the first day. But on the other hand, Linc was not this delicate little flower I had thought he was. His strong jaw had its fair share of bruises, and his nose was slightly bent from how many times it had been broken. He had been flirting with me for months, he had asked me out for dinner at this cute little diner numerous times. After a particularly terrible day, Linc came up to me and grabbed my hand, basically dragging me to the diner. We stayed there until the sun came up in the morning. It hadn't been easy, trusting someone again after Eddie, who I had trusted completely. Especially since I had never truly got over the hurt of my father leaving me. We were together for more than 7 months before I let him spend the night at my shitty apartment.

I held onto him tightly as we walked through the house. I saw Kelly and Jake leaning up against each other near the bar. Linc leaned in and brushed his lips over my temple.

I felt her before I saw her, because before I knew it, my mother had her arms wrapped around me and she seemed to be shaking from excitement.

"Hi Mom."

I think she said something, but I couldn't tell because her face was buried in my hair and- wait was she crying?

"Are you okay, Mom?"

She pulled back and put her hands on my face, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

"I just missed you so much!"

"I know Mom, I know."

"What about me?" My soon to be stepfather asked as he pulled me into a hug. I didn't realize how much I missed Max, the only real father figure I had in my life since my asshole of a father left. Over Max's shoulder I could see Eddie looking at the floor. He should be feeling awkward.

"I missed you too Max."

"Is this Lincoln?" I turned around to see my mom looking at Linc with a renewed interest.

"Yeah, mom, that's Linc."

"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Tate." I found it hard to not smirk at Linc, he was like the least formal person I knew.

"Please call me Nora. I've been wanting to meet Loren's boyfriend for a long time, but the last time we visited," she turned to glare at me, "she said you were busy."

"Me? Busy? Oh, Loren, you know I'm never that busy."

I heard a glass shatter behind me and I turned around to find Eddie with his hand open, and a bottle of beer shattered on the floor.

"Boyfriend?" I saw Linc clench his fists.

The first time I had heard his voice in over two years, and it wasn't an apology, it was an anger filled question that I knew would not end well.

For any of us.


End file.
